Thursday, August 5, 2010

Field Off Sloan Road-The Pastel

When I first looked, I thought, well, there's a lot there, but I will have to pull it out.

I have been reading about Cezanne lately. He structured and pulled out a lot from his landscape motifs. Another aspect of Cezanne that struck me is that he lived to be 67, only 67 years of age, even though he looks fragile and ancient in those late photos by Bernard and Roussel. Somebody (Robert Hughes?) wrote that if he had died at the age of fifty, he would be remembered only as a minor artist today, if that. He painted most of his great works in the last 17 years of his life (1889-1906). Another thought: everyone is familiar with Van Gogh. Did you realize that his artistic career lasted only ten years? Ten years.

I just started painting en plein-air this year. I am 51 years old and am a late starter so I appreciate your encouraging words about Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh both of whom--as you said--started late.